What makes you left footed

So much of this answer has to do with repetition: how often you perform the specific skill, and from which side or direction. However, another factor determining your lateral dominance could be predetermined by your nervous system. Lateral Dominance can be defined as the preferred use and better performance of one side of the body as compared to the other side.

Amongst others, a study out of Ishikawa University in Japan discussed several previous studies on laterality , as well as their own findings that compared preferential leg use in a variety of movements. Previous research indicated that However, this study found subjects equally chose to use the right leg or left leg in balancing and jump takeoffs. Similarly, a right-handed person may prefer their right foot and eye, but prefer their left ear. You may have seen a similar trend with left-handed people.

Because the majority of people who are right-handed are also right-footed, in some cases where a person writes with their right hand but prefers to use their left foot, they may have been predisposed to being left-handed but were raised to use their right hand. Overall, whereas the vast majority of the global population is right-handed, it's thought that a smaller percentage is right-footed, an even smaller percentage is right-eyed, and yet an even smaller percentage is right-eared perhaps a little over half , but this trend is unlikely to be visible using only five volunteers.

Why might people have a weaker preference for an eye or ear that matches their dominant side? Perhaps one ear or eye is stronger than the other. More to explore Neuroscience for Kids , from Eric H. This activity brought to you in partnership with Science Buddies. Already a subscriber? Sign in. Thanks for reading Scientific American. Create your free account or Sign in to continue. See Subscription Options. Go Paperless with Digital. Build a Cooler. Get smart. Sign up for our email newsletter.

Sign Up. Support science journalism. Knowledge awaits. See Subscription Options Already a subscriber? Create Account See Subscription Options. Whether a person favours their right hand or their left, and what this reveals about brain function, has been studied for at least years.

These days, left-handedness is more accepted. While we know very little about what influences hand preference, we do know that handedness reflects the wiring of the individual brain.

Just why one in 10 people favour their left hand is a mystery. Theories include:. Very young children often use both hands equally.

Hand preference in the early years seems to rely on which hand is closer to the desired object; for example, a toddler may reach for a toy on their left side with their left hand because of convenience, regardless of future hand preference. Most children have a preference for using one hand or the other by the age of about 18 months, and are definitely right or left-handed by about the age of three.

However, a recent UK study of unborn babies found that handedness might develop in utero. About nine out of 10 unborn babies preferred to suck their right rather than their left thumb, and this hand preference was borne out later in life.

The brain has two hemispheres, the left and the right. Researchers into the brain once believed that handedness revealed which brain hemisphere was dominant. While some people use one hand exclusively for all tasks, others tend to swap depending on the activity; for example, some people write with their left hand but open jars with their right.

It was once believed that a right-handed person has general dominance on the right side of their body, which means their favoured foot, eye and ear are also on their right side. Many people may be right-handed but, for example, always take the first step with their left foot. Cross laterality is an ambidextrous mixture for example, being left handed but dominant in the right eye and foot.

This may cause coordination difficulties. However, some sports such as gymnastics benefit from the distribution of brain dominance. Research into cross laterality is ongoing. Since 90 per cent of the population is right-handed, left-handed people do experience some practical problems, including:.

This page has been produced in consultation with and approved by:. The abdominal muscles support the trunk, allow movement and hold organs in place by regulating internal abdominal pressure.